Delhi is among 38 major global cities facing 'extremely high water stress'.
Severe water scarcity affects half of the world's largest cities.
It is driven by poor water management and climate change.
This crisis is particularly acute in Asia, with northern India and Pakistan experiencing the strongest drying trends.
Thirty eight of the world’s 100 largest cities are experiencing “extremely high water stress” including Delhi, Beijing, New York, Los Angeles and Rio de Janerio, an analysis has found.
The analysis published by The Guardian and Watershed Investigations noted that among the 100 large cities, half of them are under high levels of water stress including London, Jakarta and Bangkok.
“Water stress means water withdrawals for public water supply and industry are close to exceeding supplies, often caused by poor management of water resources exacerbated by climate breakdown,” it stated.
Some 1.1 billion people reside in major metropolitan areas located in regions undergoing strong long-term drying, as against 96 million in and around the cities in regions indicating strong wetting trends, the report noted.
“Most of the regions in notably wetting zones are in sub-Saharan Africa, with just Tokyo and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic sitting elsewhere. Most of the urban centres in areas with the strongest drying signals are concentrated across Asia, particularly northern India and Pakistan,” The Guardian said.
The Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas assessed by Down To Earth (DTE) indicated that states such as Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and parts of Kerala showed extreme water stress. In 2019, Chennai saw 'Day Zero', when all its main reservoirs had gone almost dry.
Facing its sixth consecutive drought, Tehran is close to Day Zero as water crisis resulted due to unsustainable water use have depleted reservoirs the capital of Islamic Republic of Iran. It has forced the country to consider shifting its capital from Tehran in the north to Makran towards the south.
A United Nations Global Water Bankruptcy report published on January 20, 2026 stated that the world has entered the era of water bankruptcy owing to climate change putting many regions of the world into perennial water stress. It noted that nearly 4 billion people that is almost half the road population is facing severe water scarcity for at least one month annually.
The atlas showed that drought risk was extreme in western India and southern India. With business as usual scenario, the water stress will exacerbate.